Illuminated dispaly sign



July 17, 1923- 31,462,851 W. J. MICHELSEN ILLUMINATED DISPLAY SIGN FiledJan. 19. 1922 William J. Michels Patented July 11?, I23.

hairs sass WILIJKAEEJ. 'MECHELSEE, 0F CHIDAGO, IL

manner manner siren.

Application filed January 19, was. serial Ito. teaser.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. *Mlonnn- BEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIlluminated Display Signs, of which the following is a specification.

M said invention relates to illuminated disp ay signs such as are usedfor advertising purposes in show-windows, and consists of a prism-shapedcasing containing a source of light from which the rays are indirectlyrojected through a screen containing the advertising matter.

One object of my invention is to difi'use the light so as to prevent theappearance of a bright spot on that portion of the screen nearest thesource of the light.

Another object is to construct a screen containing printed matter andtransarencies of photographs and means for urther diflusing the lightrays so as to give depth and atmosphere to the transparencies.

- With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of acombination and arrangement of parts fully described in the followingspecification and particularly pointed out 1n the appended claims,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereofin which like numerals designate similar parts in the several views ofwhich- Figure 1 is a topplan view of a sign with a portion of the coverbroken away to clearly illustrate the location of the source of light.

Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same with the various elements of thescreen broken awa for clearer illustration,

F1 3, an elevation of an electric bulb showmg the light difiusingfeature thereof, and p I Fi 4 an enlarged detail section through the eements forming the screen.

In the drawing A represents a prismshaped casing of suitable material inwhich is located a source of light B and a screen C. The casing consistsof a bottom 10, diverging sides 11 enameled white inside to form areflector and a removable top 12. The open ortion or front of saidcasing is provided with vertical channels 13 in which the screen 0 isremovably located.

Said screen comprises a plate of clear glass 14, a photograpshicpositive 15 havng a sensltized emu ion on one side formm a transparencywhich contains the printed matter and various photographs and a ll htdiffusing plate 16 havin both sides uni ormly etched by means 0 acid.The screen C 1s surrounded b an ornamental frame to hide the casing Ithas heretofore been the ractice to employ glass with only one side.ground by means of a sand blast which results in .a coarse surfaceunsatisfactory for the purpose.

The plate 16 being etched on both sides I causes a double refraction ofthe li ht, rays thereby producing an efim of deep at mosphere andperspective on the t 1: parencies.

The light element B used in my invent1on is preferably a frostedincandescent electrlc bulb 17 oonnecM in an electric clrcult in serieswith any suitable form of flasher 18 for the purpose of attractingattention of people passlng. In order to evenly distribute the light onthe screen, I coat that portion of the bulb 17 which is nearest thescreen C with a semi-opaque substance 19 which is relatively thick inthe central portion, as at 20 in Fig. 3, and graduated or faded outtowards the sides, thereby compensating for the relative distancesbetween the bulb 17 and the cor responding portion of the screen C.

It is to be understood that although the structure and proportions shownare pref- Ill erable, I do not wish to be limited to the exact structureand materials shown' as changesmay be made in the form, proportions andminor details without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Anilluminated display sign comprising a prism-shaped casing, a singlesource of light located well within the apex of said casing, atransparent screen forming the base of said prism, graduated means onsaid single source of light for diffusing the direct rays that passthrough said screen, and means comprising a sheet of clear glass etchedon both sides and forming a part of said screen for further difl'usingsaid light rays, substantially as set forth.

2. illuminated display sign having a source of light, comprising asingle globe,

' a graduated translucent substance on one side of said globe, atransparent screen containing advertising matter and transarencies and alight diffusing screen formng a part on said transparent screen, 'sub-.

stantially as set forth.

3. A source of light for illuminated display signs comprising a singleglobe, a graduated translucent substance on one side of said globe, saidsubstance being applied relatively heavy in the central portion andWILLIAM J. MICHELSEZN.

